How to Make Your Face Look Less Shiny

I used to think that the right way to powder my face was to use a sweeping movement like swiping dirt off my shoulder. But watching Gucci Cosmetics makeup artist Aaron Henrikson mattify a face, I had questions. Why was he moving so slowly? and Was he doing something differently with his brush that I should be doing? The answers to both of these questions illustrate the proper way to powder and remove shine from your face. To teach us how to effectively powder our faces without looking too matte, Aaron Henrikson demonstrates his method in the GIFs below.

Step 1: Henrikson takes a Gucci Cosmetics Powder Brush, gently taps it into powder, and brushes off the excess. A consistent problem is that people put too much powder on their brush, so swiping off the excess is important. But rather than brushing or dragging the brush over the face, Henrikson slowly moves the brush along the forehead in a pressing motion. This helps to mattify without it looking chalky.

Step 2: He takes care to only add powder to the T-section of the head: the forehead, nose, and chin, as he wants to keep the slight dewiness along the cheeks for luminosity.

Step 3: Henrikson uses shorter, quicker motions along the chin area — the last section of the face that he powders — but still taking care to press rather than sweep or brush.